North Pole Faith
by Dongyrn
Summary: Weiss discovers a terrible truth that Pyrrha and the others must help her cope with. Weiss/Pyrrha (North Pole). Sixteenth and final story in the Lemonade series, sequel to Sugar Rush.


**Standard Disclaimer:** All rights belong to those whose rights they belong to, primarily the glorious minds at Rooster Teeth, though quite namely not me. Don't own a thing.

* * *

Beacon Academy  
Friday Evening

All things considered, Weiss could think of much worse ways to spend her Friday evenings.

The others in her team were out and about in Vale that evening, Yang with Nora to go either dancing or brawling depending on their mood. Though, often they were known to accommodate both activities in one evening or even in the same location, along with copious amounts of alcohol consumption. Blake and Ruby, on the other hand, were attending a poetry reading, of all things. Weiss was shocked to hear about their planned date, and even more so when her partner told her, with all sincerity, that Ruby was actually looking forward to it. Apparently her Faunus teammate had been reading the works from said poet out loud to the diminutive redhead for some time now.

If anyone had told Weiss at the beginning of the year, back when she was first getting acclimated to working within a team of such apparent misfits, that her dunce of a leader would be willingly attending a poetry reading with her other teammate, who was secretly a Faunus, she would have checked them for a fever.

In any case, the end result of her teammate's activities resulted in Weiss and her gorgeous, in her esteemed opinion, girlfriend Pyrrha having a quiet evening to themselves in Team RWBY's dorm room.

"Weiss, are you alright?" the redhead in question queried, her emerald eyes shining with concern.

"Hmm?" Weiss blinked her eyes uncertainly. "Pardon?"

Pyrrha gave a small giggle, a sound which never ceased to amaze her, especially when she was the cause of such happiness. "You've only been staring at me for the last five minutes."

"Oh." The platinum-haired girl blushed and glanced down at her hands where they lay in her lap. "I can't help it if you're so gorgeous I can't keep my eyes off of you," she honestly replied with a slight smile.

"Flatterer," Pyrrha laughed, pulling Weiss over to her from where they sat side-by-side on the heiress' bed. Their novels forgotten, Weiss contentedly snuggled up in her girlfriend's arms, her head on the other girl's soft chest. She listened to the steady beat of her heart, wishing she could just lie like this forever. If only there wasn't school to ruin everything, which in itself was a shocking thought for the studious girl. Or life in general, for that matter, like…

Her girlfriend quickly picked up on Weiss' stiffening, as much as she tried to cover it up with a quick snuggle deeper into the embrace.

"Alright, now, something is definitely bothering you." Pyrrha slipped a finger under Weiss' chin to tilt her head up and gaze into her expressive eyes. "Please talk to me, Snowflake. It upsets me when you keep things bottled up like this."

Weiss sighed softly. "You're the only one who ever notices when I do," she murmured.

"It's only fair, you were the first one to notice my genuine smile from the one I put up for everyone else," Pyrrha replied with an amused glint in her eyes.

"True. But that's only because you were smiling at me that way."

Pyrrha leaned over the last three inches to seal her lips over Weiss'. The shorter girl was always surprised at the softness of her girlfriend's lips, yet relished every contact with them she was able to get.

All too often lately, she wondered if she were simply stealing moments from the present to sustain her in the future.

The redhead pulled back ever so slightly, breaking the gentle kiss. "You're still avoiding the subject," she murmured against Weiss' lips before moving back the rest of the way again and gazing down at her expectantly.

Weiss sighed again, more heavily this time, and turned her head so that she was back in her original position against Pyrrha's chest. She didn't want to face those wonderful eyes right now.

 _Oum, I don't even want to have this conversation right now. Why can't I have a little more time to enjoy what we have? Why does it have to be complicated? Why can't our love be enough?_

"You know you can tell me anything, my little Snow Angel," Pyrrha prompted gently. "Please let me help you."

With a groan of resignation, Weiss nodded her head slightly, still refusing to meet her girlfriend's gaze.

"I had resolved to gain my independence from my father, to a degree," she began quietly. "It was working, Winter seemed to have convinced him to lay off of me. But recently… In the past couple of weeks or so, he has been messaging me daily. Sometimes multiple times."

"I've noticed," Pyrrha admitted. "I've also seen you ignore the messages and tuck your scroll away without reading them."

"My father is a difficult man to ignore," Weiss stated flatly. "He's been becoming more… adamant about my returning to the company after graduation to help run things, to learn more about the business so that I can eventually take over. But that's not the worst of it."

Pyrrha began running her hand through Weiss' unbound tresses, the simple movement causing a soft smile to form on her lips. _She always knows how to calm me down._

Even so, it took her a full minute to gather her resolve to continue the confession.

"He's started dropping not-so-subtle hints about heirs," Weiss finally disclosed. "In fact, today he went so far as to mention that I should enjoy my little _dalliance_ ," she spat the last word out venomously, "with my girlfriend while I can."

"But you don't have to listen to him," Pyrrha reassured, her voice tinged with a hint of anxiety. "You can be your own person."

Weiss was quiet again, but was cognizant of the fact that Pyrrha's hand had slowed and was trembling ever so slightly.

"I've agonized over this my whole life," Weiss whispered. "Even more so recently. But I've finally come to the realization that in order to change things I might need to do what he asks of me. Become integral within my grandfather's company, otherwise the Schnee name will forever be dragged through the dirt for its… _questionable business practices_ , as one of my now-best-friends had once told me, ever so scornfully."

Pyrrha's hand had ceased altogether, but once again resumed her steady stroking of Weiss' platinum hair while humming softly in her chest. The sound made Weiss smile once again through the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes.

"So where does that leave us?" her girlfriend finally asked apprehensively.

Weiss pushed herself up, finally finding the courage to face the incredible girl who taught her how to live again, how to enjoy life and love. She shouldn't have been shocked to find those enchanting emerald eyes had tears of their own, but it still made a swift pang of regret stab her heart as the cause of such pain.

"I love you," Weiss declared firmly, wiping first her eyes and then Pyrrha's with her sleeve. "And I am… I'm outraged by my father's opinion of you, how he refuses to even meet with the both of us. But…"

Pyrrha nodded in understanding, cupping Weiss' cheek in her calloused hand that smelled of the hand lotion she used, citrus and floral. "But he's your father."

"It's not just that, yes he's my father, but… I'm still terrified of confronting him."

Pyrrha leaned in and gave her a quick kiss, the faint flavor of her cherry chapstick overridden by the salty taste of her tears. The redhead let out a sigh as she tucked Weiss back down into her embrace.

"This is a heavy burden for you to bear," Pyrrha murmured softly. "I know you feel like the entirety of the Schnee legacy is riding on your shoulders… But please, please Snowflake, let me shoulder some of that burden with you. I love you so very much, and I'm willing to do absolutely anything to assure us of a future together."

"I'll try, my love," Weiss whispered miserably, knowing that even if it went against every molecule in her being to accept help in such a fashion, her girlfriend was worth it.

They, the two of them together, were worth it.

Vale Wilderness  
Saturday Morning

The next morning found Weiss and her teammates tramping through the wilderness in a desolate corner of Vale. Once again they had been called to investigate the rumor of renewed Grimm activity, this time from a pack of Beowolves.

The platinum-haired girl fervently hoped that this mission would resolve far more successfully than their last one, or at least without significant injury.

Yang had relinquished the job of rear guard to Ruby, as she was still nursing a rather significant hangover. Weiss had tried to be understanding, really she had, and perhaps her voice could be a little bit shrill when she was lending her advice on her teammate's questionable activities that left the rest of them in danger. But honestly, there was no call for such language as Yang had delivered.

"Hey, Weissy?" the blonde in question finally spoke up from behind the heiress.

She turned her head slightly in acknowledgement, though didn't deign to answer.

Yang sighed and ran a hand through her tousled hair. "I'm… sorry."

Weiss came to a stop to look at the brawler in surprise. "You are?"

"Yeah, I am. I shouldn't have called you… those things."

"Well." Weiss sniffed. "I apologize as well, then, for being so… harsh in my response."

"Oh, that's no big deal," Yang grinned, the extroverted girl's humor coming to the fore. "Freezing someone like me in place is like a prank, really, since I can just melt it away on my own. It's what I get, though, for making you so _Yang_ ry."

Weiss groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her blonde teammate's puns were truly going to induce a coronary in her one of these days.

She turned and continued their trek, this time at Yang's side. They shared an easy silence as they walked, hearing Ruby bringing up the rear, though of course Blake's traversal of their path ahead was as silent as a shadow.

She felt the unusual urge to assuage her teammate's guilt further, however. "Yang… I could have been less… irritable with you earlier as well, especially with your headache and all. So… I apologize for that also."

The blonde looked over at her in surprise and chuckled lightly. "Apology accepted. I gotta tell you, though, that hooking up with Pyrrha is, like, the best thing that could have happened to all of us."

Weiss smiled in reply, acknowledging the fact that she'd been far less testy since she and Pyrrha became a couple. In fact, this morning's eruption was now the exception rather than the norm. And likely the only reason it had occurred was the ponderings still weighing upon her.

 _What am I going to do about my father?_

Her resumed introspection was interrupted by the sudden appearance of their dark-clad Faunus teammate, ghosting out from a nearby copse of trees.

"I think I found something," Blake murmured. She waited for Ruby to join them before squatting down and sketching out a rudimentary map in the dirt at their feet.

"This is the path here… and this is our current destination. Here's the cliffs off to the West of us. Somewhere… here… looks to be some sort of activity."

"Grimm?" Weiss asked intently.

"No, sentient, but not a settlement I don't think. Might be a mining or lumber camp?" Blake sat back on her heels, her amber eyes bright. "The unusual thing were the guards."

"Why would it be unusual for them to have guards?" Ruby asked curiously. "This is the wild, after all."

"Not the presence of the guards," Blake clarified. "Their actions. They seemed to be just as intent on watching the inside perimeter of the area as they were the forest." The Faunus girl looked around at her team intently. "It reminded me of… a labor camp. As in, involuntary labor."

"Like slaves?" Weiss asked, shocked.

Yang gave a low growl, her lilac eyes tinged with red.

Ruby looked searchingly at the rest of their team. "So, we investigate."

"Um," Weiss interjected, raising a hesitant hand. "Not that I'm objecting to that course of action… but isn't this a little bit outside of our mission parameters?"

"You've never seen the inside of a labor camp," Blake replied flatly. "The misery and pain of the laborers would certainly be enough to attract Grimm."

"Oh, well alright then." Weiss gracefully stood to her feet once more and dusted her combat skirt off. "Shall we?"

"Yes, yes we shall," Ruby grinned eagerly.

The four of them silently crept forward. It was as Blake had reported, the guards only kept half of their attention on the surrounding forest, making their approach even easier, especially for someone like Weiss who wasn't the stealthiest or most concealable of people.

"For a huntress-in-training," Yang quipped softly. "You sure know how to stand out when we sneak, Princess."

"I'm _sorry_ ," Weiss huffed irritably, though she kept her voice down as much as possible. "I don't have a lot of color variety in my wardrobe, alright?"

"Next team meeting, we discuss alternative combat uniforms," Ruby whispered. "I vote for red and black as our unified theme."

Blake shot her an amused look, though she didn't deign to reply. Instead she slowly pushed herself through the last undergrowth to peer out at the camp. After only a few seconds she pulled back inside, her eyes glittering furiously.

"It's definitely a slave mining camp," the raven-haired girl reported. "And they're all Faunus."

Yang growled again, her eyes now red throughout. Weiss had to lean away from her slightly due to the amount of heat she was putting out.

"Alright, Team Ruby," their leader declared softly. "Let's go break up some slavers. Agreed?"

Both Yang and Blake nodded firmly, and Weiss placed her fist into the center of the group. "Banzai," the heiress said with a anticipatory grin.

The others clasped her hand, Yang's overly warm grip making her palm sweaty. "Banzai," they all chorused softly.

"What's the plan, sis?" Yang asked, flexing her hands to drop _Ember Celica_ into position.

"Blakey, how many guards?" Ruby prompted, unlimbering Crescent Rose and cradling it as a sniper rifle.

"Only a dozen or so here, though there's a building off to the side," the Faunus reported, fingering her own weapon eagerly. "I'll take that, if you like."

"Okay then, here's the plan." Ruby stood and looked around the area. "Yang and Weiss, go take out the guards as quickly as you can. Make sure the workers stay out of the line of fire. Blake, hit the offices, Yang backs her up when she'd finished out front. I'll take out the perimeter guards as they come investigate, Weiss you make sure the workers are kept safe and be ready to assist us if anyone needs it. Sound good?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Yang grinned. She gave the others a wink. "Excuse me while I make an entrance." With that she fired her weapons at her feet, sending her soaring over the trees and into the clearing beyond.

"So much for the subtle approach," Blake commented wryly as she started forward.

"Subtle?" Weiss scoffed genially as she jogged along at the raven-haired girl's side. "This is Yang we're talking about, right?"

They broke apart once they hit the clearing, Blake heading off towards the small building that looked to be a foreman's office and Weiss towards where the explosions were now occurring on the far side. Ruby's sniper fire was already being heard as she dealt with the reinforcements that were pouring in at Yang's explosive entry.

A pair of guards appeared in front of Weiss, causing her to snort in derision. They stared at the heiress in shock, not even attempting to bring their weapons to bear.

The huntress-in-training dispatched them easily before continuing on her path to backup Yang. Something, however, was bugging her about the area, something her subconsciousness had picked up on…

The mining area was cordoned off with a sturdy fence, topped with razor wire that faced the inside. Past the fence were numerous weary and abused-looking faces of Faunus of all varieties, the majority of them looking out uncomprehendingly. There were another set of guards at the gate, three of them, and this time their reaction was far more violent.

Weiss dodged to the side before throwing a glyph up to absorb the gunfire directed her way. With another twirl of _Myrtenaster_ , she stabbed into the ground and activated her green dust chamber. A concussive blast threw the three guards into the gate, knocking their weapons out of their hands and stunning them momentarily. With a flash of motion, Weiss was upon them and quickly eliminated her opponents.

It was then that she realized what had been bugging her.

She stared down at the guards almost uncomprehendingly. Though a small part of her brain had already deciphered what she was viewing, it was just waiting for the rest of her to catch up. It was clear as day, really, and extremely difficult to ignore or dismiss once she had acknowledged it.

Right there, on their jackets.

The Schnee Dust Company logo.

This, all of this, the whole slave camp, it was a Schnee company operation.

"No," Weiss whispered to herself, horrified at the implications. "This… this can't be right…"

A panting Yang caught up to her on her way to support Blake, who from the sound of things was heavily engaged in the office that was her target.

"Weiss?" the blonde prompted, seeing the heiress standing motionless by the gate to the slaves. "Hey, you okay?"

The platinum-haired girl didn't respond except for incoherent and inaudible mutterings.

"Okay, well, I don't see any blood, sooo…" Yang took a hesitant step, her concern split between her partner and her other teammate seemingly comatose though on her feet. The decision was made for her as a body came crashing through the window of the small building. What seemed to be the battered form of the foreman came to a rolling halt at Yang's feet. Never being one to refuse a gift, the brawler grinned and slammed her fist into the man's face as he attempted to rise, breaking his nose and knocking him out cold.

The blonde girl cocked her head to the side, but didn't hear any further sound of combat. "Blake, how you doin'?" she called out.

"Almost done," Blake shouted back from inside the building. "Weiss with you?"

"Yeah, she's… acting weird. Even for her."

"That's understandable. Be right there."

Ruby came trotting up next, pausing in concern when she saw her partner standing there unmoving. "Is she okay?" the diminutive redhead whispered to her sister.

"I dunno," Yang whispered back. "I'm kinda afraid to touch her. Why is she staring at the bodies?"

"Because of this," Blake reported softly as she suddenly appeared at their side. She held up a folder with the Schnee company logo on it. The team was intimately familiar with it, as Weiss had adopted it as her own personal logo. It was currently emblazoned on the back of the heiress' jacket.

And on the guard uniforms. And the supply boxes, the few vehicles in sight, on the office itself…

"Oh, Dust," Yang breathed. "Is this…?"

"Yeah, I think so," Ruby murmured, finally taking a few steps forward to reach out to her partner. "Hey, Weiss…"

The platinum-haired girl was shocked back into the present once Ruby touched her arm. She quickly blinked back her tears and clamped down on the raging emotions that had briefly leaked through her ice-blue eyes. Ruby, however, got a good look and was startled at the depth of her partner and friend's despair.

"I'm sorry," Weiss began softly, looking about in wonderment. "I… must have lost track of time. It won't happen again." With that she turned and slowly made her way to the perimeter of the clearing.

The other three team members looked at each one another in concern, but they had slaves to free still. It took them the rest of the afternoon to emancipate the Faunus at the camp and escort them to a community nearby where most of them had been taken from. They'd also left the mining operation in shambles, the equipment destroyed and the mine itself collapsed.

On the way to the community, Ruby had called in to change their pickup location. She, Blake and Yang agreed that they could consider the mission a success, as the root cause of the Grimm activity was removed.

Weiss, however, was silent for the remainder of the excursion, only answering curtly when asked a direct question. Nobody in her team could coax any answers out of her to figure out what she was thinking.

None of them could tell just how close the heiress was to a complete mental breakdown after witnessing the horror that had been committed in her family's name.

Beacon Academy  
Sunday Afternoon

Weiss had spent the evening of their return and much of the next day wandering Beacon. She'd occasionally stop by the library to look a few facts up, but the answers she sought were not to be found there.

 _Was that really a company-sanctioned operation? Why were they there? Who knew about it?_

Her meanderings had finally taken her back to her dorm room. It was lunchtime, and she was sure that her team, who'd she been avoiding, were at lunch.

She was still deep in her negative thoughts, wondering for perhaps the hundredth time if she could actually gather enough courage to question her father on what she'd seen, when she was startled to realize she wasn't alone in the dorm room.

Her team was there as well as Pyrrha, seemingly waiting for her. Yang and Blake sat on the edge of the Faunus' bed while Pyrrha and Ruby sat on her own.

Weiss stood uncertainly as the four of them looked expectantly at her. "Um…" she began, unsure as to what they wanted.

"Hey, Weiss," Ruby finally said softly, patting the space on the edge of the bed between herself and Pyrrha. "Can you sit for a moment? We gotta talk."

"I…" Weiss cleared her throat. "There are things I need to…"

"We get it," Yang interjected, her lilac eyes warm and understanding. "I know it's a lot to figure out, but we're your team. Let us help you come to terms with what we saw."

"But we don't really know what we saw," Weiss protested weakly, still unwilling to admit to herself the depths of depravity that her family organization had fallen to. "It… it could have been a rogue operation, or… or… or maybe just a misguided…"

With a soft sigh, Blake reached behind her and pulled out a light blue folder with the Schnee logo emblazoned on it. She stood and handed it to Weiss.

"You should read this. Here, with us in the room."

Weiss accepted the folder and finally sat down slowly in between her partner and her silent girlfriend. The latter immediately wrapped a supporting arm around her waist, though it did nothing to dispel the dread that was coursing through her veins.

She opened the folder with trembling hands and began to read.

After perhaps fifteen minutes of eerie silence in the room, she closed it once more. It was all there, irrefutable proof on company letterhead with signatures she recognized. Not only was this slave mining operation completely company-sanctioned, it wasn't even an uncommon occurrence. Several camps were spread throughout the kingdoms, out in the wilds where there was no oversight. Any discovery of these camps was quickly and efficiently covered up through the influence of Weiss' father, as detailed in the contingency plans at the back of the assembled information.

Weiss stared at the folder in her lap in utter shock, aghast as she felt her world crumble around her. She dimly felt Pyrrha's arm tighten around her waist, as well as Ruby wrapping her own arms around her torso.

The Schnee heiress dissolved into tears as she was finally unable to keep herself from breaking down, her keening wail the only sound in the dorm room for quite some time.

Beacon Academy  
Tuesday Evening

It had been two days since she'd been given the hated folder, and Weiss didn't feel like she'd slept a wink. She had tried desperately to come to terms with the information she'd been given, and while she'd lain in bed with her girlfriend's comforting arms encircling her, what little sleep she actually got was fitful and possibly worse than if she had just skipped sleep altogether.

She knew she looked like a mess. Other students had been giving her wary glances as she passed them in the corridors, at the bags she knew to be under her bloodshot eyes, the deathly pallor to her skin.

Pyrrha had stuck by her side, a constant source of comfort and strength that she was eternally grateful for, even more than her team who were actively covering for her in their classes. She'd tried to attend the first class on Monday only to run out in the middle of it, much to consternation of the professor. From what she'd been able to overhear, however, Ruby had gone all the way to Ozpin himself to get his intervention, and she'd been granted a leave of absence this week while her teammates collected notes and assignments for her.

Her helplessness and unprecedented truancy grated even further on her nerves.

She sat at the dinner table numbly, listening with half an ear to the banter and conversation flowing around the table. It was quieter than usual, the teams all aware of the internal struggle that Weiss was undergoing. They all stole glances at her so… pityingly.

She simply couldn't take it anymore, the concern and the self-denial and everything else, it all just… just…

Weiss realized that she'd been holding her spoon in her hand since she'd sat down, poised over her untouched soup. With a deliberate motion she sat it down with a _bang_ far louder than she'd intended it to be. Several of her friends were startled into silence.

"What's going on, Snowflake?" Pyrrha finally whispered gently.

Weiss stared unseeing at her bowl of soup. "I can't do this," she whispered back brokenly.

Her redheaded girlfriend looked at her, brow furrowed, as she lay a hesitant hand on her arm. "Do what?"

"I thought…" The heiress raised her ice-blue eyes up for a moment, flickering guiltily over to Blake before gazing down once more. "I thought I could somehow ignore the ramifications of what we found out in that camp. I thought I could… hide from it." She shook her head slowly, her long side tail of uncharacteristically tangled platinum hair swaying. "Everything I thought was a lie."

Pyrrha shifted over to wrap her arm around Weiss, but the smaller girl slipped out from her grasp.

"Excuse me," she whispered, tears flowing freely down her cheeks as she made her escape.

She could hear Pyrrha calling her name behind her, but she put on a burst of speed, almost bowling over a pair of students in her haste to escape. She had to get away, away from everyone. It was all so stifling, so… so overwhelming...

Weiss spent most of the night wandering the grounds of Beacon, meandering through areas she'd never taken the time to explore before.

She spent her time breaking down her own beliefs of her heritage, finally allowing herself to be brutally honest about her options continuing forward. She needed to deal with this as she dealt with everything, decisively and truthfully.

After an hour she'd been able to determine that there was no possible way for her to enact meaningful change from within her family's organization as she had once thought. Not if this culture was so pervasive, starting at the top and flowing down. She always knew her father deemed the Faunus to be below his status, but so much of his beliefs were starkly evident to her now, the things he would comment upon or opinions he would espouse.

Weiss wondered how she had missed his blatant racism. Of course, she'd been of a similar mindset before discovering Blake's heritage, though she'd like to think it was more based off of the constant, unending war the White Fang waged upon her family's company.

A war that now, to be honest, she could somewhat sympathize with, even if the means towards the desired end were inherently violent.

And his attitude towards Pyrrha was suddenly clarified in her head as well. He was, to put it succinctly, the ultimate conservative in the world of Remnant. Humans before Faunus, hetero childbearing pairings before anything else. That was just the way things should be, in his mind, and nothing would ever change that.

She had no hope of ever changing that, which took that option straight off of the negotiation table.

So, she mused to herself as she stood by the fountain in the dark, the trickling sounds of the water a balm to her emotive thoughts. Even if she could, in some way, enact change, did she truly desire to at this point? Did she really want to claim that heritage, her name that she now understood to be far more vilified than she'd ever realized?

It took her only a few more minutes to make up her mind. And once she'd decided on a course of action, Weiss was nothing if not resolute.

She pulled her scroll out to see that there were numerous missed messages. Many from all three of her teammates, exhibiting concern and support, though the majority by far were from Pyrrha. Her simple missives of unconditional love and support brought another tear to her eye, and she sniffed happily as she read through them.

Lastly was another message from her father, reminding her yet again of her familial duty.

"Well," she murmured to herself grimly. "That one gets dealt with last."

First she contacted her girlfriend. _Are you still up?_ she typed.

Pyrrha answered promptly. _Of course, love. Waiting for you in your room._

 _Are the others there?_

 _Yes, they're all here._

 _Good, on my way._ Her fingers lingered over her scroll. _I love you._

 _I love you too, Snowflake._

Weiss smiled softly to herself, then steeled her face as she pulled up her father's text and began to type an answer.

 _I've seen one of your slave camps._

She went to put her scroll away as she began walking resolutely back towards her dorm, but it immediately began to vibrate with an incoming call. Her father's stern visage stared at her to indicate who the call was from.

She quickly swiped her scroll to refuse the call and returned it to her pocket.

Within ten minutes Weiss was standing at the door to her room. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, gathering her courage before slowly pushing the door open.

The others were arrayed much as they were before, though Yang was lounging up on her bed this time, idly kicking her bare feet up into the air and Blake was against her headboard, quietly reading from a book. Ruby and Pyrrha sat on Weiss' bed conversing. All four of them were already dressed for bed, though she noted that Pyrrha had a pile next to her of her clothing, close on hand in case she needed to come out after her.

The platinum-haired girl had to smile slightly at her girlfriend's consideration, as always keeping her welfare in mind ahead of her own. _I don't deserve you. But I will try my very hardest to do so._

The four of them paused in their activities and looked over when Weiss entered, all of them sitting up courteously and giving her their full attention.

She knew her eyes were still red and bloodshot, but nonetheless Weiss gathered herself together with as much grace as she was able to muster. She held her fist up to her mouth and cleared her throat quietly before clasping both of her hands together at her waist.

"I need to tell you all something," she began, her voice bordering on hoarseness. "You… all of you, you are family to me, so much more than friends… And, I need to tell you, that… I have decided I will have nothing more to do with my father or his company. I am renouncing my heritage."

Weiss looked down at the floor, unable to meet their concerned gazes any longer for the rest of what she had to say. "And, also… I am so, so very sorry for what you all saw… in the camp, and in that file…" Her broken whisper trailed off as her carefully rehearsed speech fell apart. How could she adequately convey how responsible she felt for the atrocities committed in her family's name?

She was startled by the hug she quickly received, not just for the physical comfort but for who it was that initiated the intimate act of caring.

"It isn't your fault," Blake murmured reassuringly in her ear. "And by no means do I think that you are representative of your family." The raven-haired girl pulled back and gave Weiss a gentle smile. "You are my friend first and foremost, and yes, I consider you family as well. Nothing will change that."

Weiss found herself speechless, and could only smile back at her tearfully. She hadn't much time to consider a response, though, as the Faunus was quickly replaced by her girlfriend.

Taking her clasped hands into her own, Pyrrha looked down into her eyes intently. "What do you want to do?" she asked. "Because whatever it is, I am here for you."

"You always are," Weiss replied, her smile widening. "And I cannot tell you how grateful I am because of it. But…" She sighed finally, her voice turning disconsolate as she looked down at their joined hands. "I'm not even sure how to completely sever ties with my father. I've told him what I know, just that I'd seen one of the camps… But I can't talk to him about it."

"Why not?" Ruby piped up curiously. "I mean… I know you have a tough time speaking with him…"

"It's not just that. If I truly fight him over this then he'd find a way to get me thrown out of Beacon somehow and back into his clutches." Weiss shook her head, looking at her teammates imploringly. "I have to last through to graduation somehow, but at least now I know for certain my future does not lie in that direction."

"So then, what do you want to do?" Blake prompted from where she'd sat back down on her bed.

"And what can we do to help you?" Yang chimed in, leaning onto her hands as her legs dangled over the edge.

Weiss smiled at her friends, her teammates, and considered herself immensely blessed to have them in her life. And then she directed her attention to Pyrrha, and revised her earlier statement. Blessed didn't even come close to describing it.

"I think… If I can somehow get him to back off, just a little bit, it might help," she admitted softly. "I don't know how else to convey the message to him, especially when he starts going off about… heirs."

"Hairs?" Ruby asked. "I don't get it, is he losing his hair?"

"Heirs, Ruby," Blake chuckled. "As in, children."

"Oh. Oh!" The small redhead's silver eyes widened, and then she shuddered in disgust. "Ew."

"It's just part of his constant message to bring me back into the fold." Weiss slowly ran her thumb over Pyrrha's wrist. "And I'm sick of it, sick of the thought that someday… someday he might somehow still get his wish."

"Weiss, look at me."

The platinum-haired girl drew her gaze upward to meet her very favorite and expressive pair of emerald green orbs. Her mouth went suddenly dry at the love she found therein.

"I've always thought it to be my destiny to become a huntress," Pyrrha began, her voice low and sincere. "Protecting the world from evil. But over the last few months it's become increasingly clear to me that the only destiny I care about is one with you in it." The tall redhead smiled sweetly. "No matter what, I want to be by your side with whatever our future turns out to be."

Weiss drew in a stunned breath as Pyrrha dropped to one knee, bringing the top of her head level with her shoulders.

"Will you marry me, Weiss?"

The silence of the room was broken only by a _thud_ as Yang fell out of her bunk, but still nobody made a noise as they held their collective breaths.

Weiss' mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. "Now?" she squeaked.

"No, not just yet, after graduation perhaps." Pyrrha's bright eyes were wet and shining with emotion. "But I want us to be promised to each other before that, so that everyone will know we are betrothed to one another. If you… if you want to, that is?" Her face was suddenly struck with uncertainty as she gazed up at Weiss.

The shorter girl sniffled, wiping away an escaped tear with a fist she'd managed to free from Pyrrha's grasp before bringing it to her mouth. She cleared her throat again to push away the emotion that threatened to choke her. "Only on one condition," she whispered hoarsely.

"Anything," Pyrrha breathed anxiously.

Weiss smiled down at her, bringing her hand around to cup Pyrrha's cheek lovingly. "I want to take your name."

Pyrrha smiled brilliantly back at her in reply. "Weiss Nikos," she murmured through the tears that now flowed down her cheeks. "I like the sound of that."

"So do I," Weiss replied before capturing her lips with her own.

The room erupted in jubilant cheers. Rose petals adorned the couple in the middle of the room as Ruby excitedly ran around in a circle, only coming to a stop when she bounced off of the bathroom door, risking a concussion. Yang let out a joyous holler and scooped her sister up, twirling her around in a circle before grabbing Blake and unceremoniously pulling her into the group hug.

Neither of the newly-engaged pair gave them any mind as they lost themselves in their slow, heartfelt kiss.

All things considered, Weiss didn't think she could have asked for more out of life. She'd found her soulmate, now her fiancee, and there was nothing that would stand in their way.

So long as they were together, nothing else mattered.

* * *

 **A/N:** Whew! So, for now our string of stories within the _Lemonade_ series comes to a close, this being the sixteenth and the sequel to _Sugar Rush_. I might at some time be inspired to add another little tale of fluff, but in the immediate future I have other projects within RWBY to move onto, as well as a lingering story within the MCU sub that really needs finished. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for reading my fluffy little tales, and hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.

Also a shout-out to those who have favorited, followed, and/or reviewed any of my stories in the series. Love you all to pieces.

 **TacoKing23:** (Ladybug Stitches) Excited Rubes is beyond awesome, glad you enjoyed the story so much! And I always want to give props to my reviewers, if you took the time to write a review it's worth a shout-out!

 **ODST110:** (Fallen Ladybug) Snap, crackle, and pop? You're thinking of Milk  & Cereal, totally different pairing… ;-)

 **Inquisitek:** (Sugar Rush) Yeah once I started writing Nora and Ruby together the dynamic seemed to really click. I still think they make the ultimate womance, kinda like the female equivalent to Sun and Neptune.

 **AntonSlavik020:** (Sugar Rush) You keep saying combat scenes aren't your thing, and yet you still read and review my stories that have them in there. So, thanks, really, I'm more than a little flattered to be the exception. And yeah, I figure by this point Pyrrha is over keeping her semblance much of a secret. Glad you enjoyed the story!

So, last bit, here's the full listing of all sixteen stories within the _Lemonade_ series to date:

 **Pink Lemonade  
** **Just A Little Ladybug  
** **North Pole Weather  
** **Snow Angel  
** **Sweet, Sweet Lemonade  
** **Ladybug Trails  
** **Trifecta  
** **Yuletide Lemonade  
** **Eros  
** **Lotus Song  
** **Strawberry Lemonade  
** **Ladybug Stitches  
** **North Pole Mirror  
** **Fallen Ladybug  
** **Sugar Rush  
** _ **North Pole Faith**_

Stay shiny!


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